Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 1355 - 110 : Plenty Still Lost in the Dream

*Zara*

As the first light of dawn peeked over the horizon, Noah led the way as I followed along with Aaron, Lorelei, Gray, and Brandon back toward the pack house.

I was deep in thought about Noah’s words and how right he was. My love always knew how to calm me down, and it reaffirmed I made the right decision to keep trying.

We had so many ups and downs, and there were many times when I thought we simply were not going to pull through or work it out. But by the grace of the moon goddess, here we were.

We were leading a bunch of lost people to where they would be taken care of and hopefully woken up further. These Luna lilies were full of surprises, that was for sure.

The ring that’d glowed to help guide us to Lorelei dimmed before suddenly crumbling to dust. Some of it landed in the palm of my hand, and I examined it.

I poked it with my index finger, raising a brow and letting out a soft sigh. When I glanced over to Noah, I noticed his ring had suffered the same fate.

I wondered if the Luna lilies granted his aunts magic or if they had it the entire time. They certainly knew so much about it in general, which is why I trusted them to guide us.

Hopefully, they’d pull through again. My heart sang just a little bit at the thought of how caring Noah’s aunts were. A light smile crossed my face as I realized they’d be my aunts soon too. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

They were treating me like family already, and I realized that was very true. As a passing thought, I wondered if they could help me learn more about my powers or what they’d think about this whole dreamscape issue.

As I walked, deep in thought about all of that, a heavy silence weighed on us. No one struck a conversation, their faces twisted in thought, some in despair, like in the case of Aaron.

He kept glancing over to Lorelei with a forlorn, troubled expression, his body language exhausted and depressed. For her part, Lorelei didn’t make eye contact and rather kept her glance completely downcast.

Something I noticed that made my heart leap a touch, though, was how she walked so close to Gray. I thought maybe it could still work out for them. I hoped so. He seemed as though he really was trying to turn things around.

It’d be on Lorelei’s terms though, always. She seemed to be clinging to him for comfort and familiarity. Eventually, Gray lifted his arm and rested it around Lorelei’s shoulder as they walked, holding her close.

Aaron winced at this gesture, and I frowned a bit. He’d been treating Lorelei as a prize in this dream state, but I had to wonder if it was how he really thought. Something told me that perhaps this dream state was meant to teach.

It was not a mirror of reality. It was more like one of the worst realities. I still couldn’t figure out how Noah and I did not get stuck in all of this. We were fully aware, though the haze continued to swirl all around us.

I mulled this over in my head as I pondered the bizarre events that unfolded in this strange alternate dream we’d been trapped in overnight.

At least, I hoped it’d only been one night. Something inside me told me that although not too much time had passed and this was a dream state, it painted out years that had gone by.

I was deeply worried about Aaron. He’d honestly been a terrible person in this dream state, but I had a feeling that wasn’t the complete truth of the matter.

On a lighter note, my focus shifted to Gray, who seemed to be processing this well. His expression was a huge mixture of awe and optimism. Clearly, he didn’t think he deserved this chance.

But now, with Lorelei clinging to him for comfort and seeming to possibly begin the threads of forgiveness, anything was possible. If Gray continued his upward trend of improvement, I could see it working out.

My heart leaped at that prospect. I loved seeing mental healing and people getting better after showing the pits of their worst selves. I decided Gray definitely had a good chance.

And the Luna lilies had revealed the reality of their mate bond to begin with, although they did so at a heavy cost and journey. That’s what happened between Noah and I, after all.

The mate bond was proving to be so much more complex than I thought. It wasn’t just love at first sight. That was just the first step. The love needed effort and to be forged in hard work.

Noah and I had got through that, and now it was possibly Gray and Lorelei’s turn.

My focus then shifted to the anomaly of the group.

Brandon.

He was completely changed character-wise in this dream state. He’d been in a lowly servant position, and I had to wonder how the dream painted him to be that way.

It made me wonder if the dreamscape even recognized him as Brandon of Drogomor or if it defaulted him to someone else, like how it seemed as though Noah and I were not recognized at first.

I mulled this over in my head but definitely noticed how uncharacteristically quiet and contemplative he was following this manservant role.

Either way, maybe it was humbling to him.

He did have an ego that was the size of the planet, even more so than his brother. When Aaron had flirted with Lorelei, jealousy had dripped from him.

Maybe Noah’s brothers would start taking things more seriously now that they’d been exposed to either different sizes of themselves or different roles in general.

As we got closer to the pack house estate, my stomach clenched with concern. Unease settled in my entire body as I wondered how many people inhaled the fragrant smoke from the Luna lilies.

None of this made any sense. I was still trying to grasp what exactly the roles meant for each person, why they were put into it, and why Noah and I had escaped it.

I wasn’t sure if these worlds were personalized or a sign of something else. Either way, though we seemed to be sharing it, something else could have happened where some people were in a different dream.

When we finally entered the manor yard, my fears were unfortunately confirmed. Indeed, no one else had been woken up, except for our small group.

One of Noah’s aunts was blissfully dancing among the flowers. It was Genevieve, and she was giggling and falling over every so often as if drunk.

I didn’t know what she was on. Though it felt somewhat in character for her, it was clear she was still lost in the dream.

Harriet and Marguerite were off to the side with petals falling on them. Marguerite was muttering, “Make sure to include every color, please. That’s fashion, I swear it. It’ll be an excellent addition to my magic.”

“Be patient, dear!” Harriet exclaimed as we got closer. “This is a methodical process! It goes beyond just simple fashion, my goddess!”

When we got close enough for them to see, Marguerite waved but did nothing else. No sign of recognition crossed her face.

Well, that wasn’t good. They didn’t recognize anyone in our bedraggled group at all, that much was clear. Like everyone else, they must have been mentally ensnared by the hallucinogenic effects of the smoke.

I’d wanted to experiment and see what else these lilies could do but not this in-depth. Unfortunately, I was getting plenty of information from this whole mess now.

“They look busy and as though they’re not going to be able to work with us right now,” Noah muttered with a sigh, disappointment laced in his voice.

Clearly, he’d hoped the spell had broken on them too.

“You’re right.” Anxiety pierced my heart, making my stomach lurch. “How about we leave this for now and go check on Briella? I’m really worried about her, Noah. I trust your parents, but...”

“Yes, they’re lost in the dream as well. I understand, Zara. And I’m worried too. Come on, let’s head to the nursery first and then we’ll work further on this mess.”

With that, we hastily told the others to wait there for now, since we needed to check on our baby. Noah was close behind as I rushed through the halls, passing by some pack members as I did so.

Some were swaying, some were saying incoherent words, and some were kissing a teapot.

Goddess, it was just a straight-up mess.

But we made it to the nursery with no further problems. I went inside, my heart pounding with worry for what we may see.

Thankfully, my worries were dispelled instantly as I spotted baby Briella sleeping soundly in her crib, blissfully unaware of the strange events swirling around her.

Maybe this odd smoke didn’t affect babies. Thank goddess, as the thought of her having nightmares, like how my sigils were hiding, put me at unease.

On a different note, Angelica was sitting there watching over the crib, her face twisted in bliss and affection. She saw us enter and put a finger to her lips.

“Shh. My baby sister is sleeping. Oh, isn’t this wonderful?” She leaped up in the air, squealing in delight as I made eye contact with her. She then put her hand over her mouth in worry.

She glanced over to Briella, who remained sleeping. Continuing that low tone of hers, she said, “Phew, that was close. Oh, but I’m just so excited. I’ve always wished for a baby sister to dote on and love...”

I cast an uneasy glance toward Noah, and we both understood what was clicking in our minds.

This wasn’t a dream come true because the dream simply wasn’t real. She’d need to be woken up soon. When she did, she’d lose the dream.

Still, I made a mental note to send Briella to her auntie for loving when this mess had cleared up. She may not have been a true baby sister, but she’d love the doting. I had a feeling Angelica would be delighted to give that to her.

For now, we decided to simply allow Angelica to be lost in this fantasy. She’d keep a close watch over our baby’s well-being, and I trusted her with all my heart.

I knew Noah did too.

Just then, Alpha Issac and Estella entered to introduce someone.

“We have a guest,” Alpha Issac said formally. “Our new baby is wonderful, and you should meet her here and now.”

However, the guest looked taken aback and tense. Alpha Issac and Estella were very ill at ease, as well, as they rubbed the back of their necks.

“I understand, but I’m trying to find Noah and Zara,” the guest said. “I need to speak with them immediately.”